Ironic
by HappyBunny1
Summary: [Ghost Ship] It's 50 years later and now Epps is an old woman who has gone on with her life since the incident on the Antonia Graza. But on her deathbed, she gets a final visitor who says goodbye and perhaps a little more...


Author's Note: Don't know how I came up with this idea. Just read and review please!! By the way, this is kinda sad... just preparing you for that.  
  
Summary: It's fifty years later and now Epps is an old woman who has gone on with her life since the incident on the Antonia Graza. But on her deathbed, she gets a final visitor who says goodbye and perhaps a little more...  
  
Disclaimer: Sorry. I'm just an amatuer author here. I don't own Ghost Ship or anything related to it. But Jack Ferriman would be nice... :-)  
  
*~*~*  
  
Ironic  
  
Antonia Graza.  
  
Those were two words that Maureen Epps could never and would never forget. They hung around lazily in the back of her mind but would lurk forward every once in a while to give her a good scare. And that they did. Memories would shoot out at her from all directions and there was no stopping them. And these weren't nostalgic memories. These were the kinds of memories that keep you up at night thinking of how you could've changed everything, how you could've made everything all right.  
  
But was there anything she really COULD'VE made alright?  
  
But over the years, Maureen had come to terms with her past, with the death of her fellow crew members, with the death of that girl, Katie Harwood, who helped her survive, and most of all, with Jack Ferriman's survival.  
  
It was all very difficult, yes, but since she never went on the ocean again, she went on with her life and got married and had a family. Although, she never told another living soul of her experience and never planned on doing so. It was just something she felt others weren't in dire need of knowing.  
  
After the Antonia Graza, she stayed in the hospital for several days until she finally demanded to be let out, saying that she was perfectly fine... which wasn't completely true.  
  
When she was was out of the hospital, the press was all over her, bombarding her with questions that she didn't want to answer, or creeping around her small house until she finally went outside to get the morning newspaper (which had her face plastered all over it for several weeks), or lounging around at her work and then questioning her fellow waitresses (who were far more stupid to the whole situation then even the press was).  
  
But finally, things calmed down and she tried to maintain a nice, quiet life. Not to mention, she gave up her awful habit of smoking. And not too long after, she heard about another ship's disappearance and then she knew for a fact that Jack Ferriman was not dead.  
  
And since then, a lot of ironic things have happened to Maureen Epps. She married a man with the last name of Grazen. She never thought anything of it until her two children were born. Maureen had alomst died while giving birth to her twins so her husband, Robert, had taken the liberty to name them. He named them Antonia and Jack.  
  
Maureen was mortified when she found that out. She wanted to legally change their names but she and her husband could barely pay the bills let alone pay for something as unnecessary as a legal name-change. So their names stayed. Robert begged her to tell him what had happened to her. He knew that, for a short time, she was lost on the ocean but he never knew more than that. And as the years went on he gave up on the subject.  
  
Maureen loved her children more than anything Heaven could ever provide. And after a while she grew used to their names. But whenever she called out Jack's name, even to the day she died, she would get a chill down her spine, or she would feel the presence of some evil, unseen eyes... as if Jack Ferriman was watching her, staring at her, laughing at her.  
  
"Nurse. Nurse!"  
  
But now Maureen was lying in a nursing home bed, almost completely dependent on her nurse for the simple things of everyday life. Maureen Epps Grazen was dying and her nurse, Marcie, was all she had left. Her husband had died instantly in a horrible car accident several days ago. She was with him. That's why she was in the hospital now. She had internal bleeding and more than one broken bone so she wasn't leaving the hospital anytime soon.  
  
Not to mention her children had gone their seperate ways. Antonia had become a flight attendant and Jack was a police officer. Maureen was so proud of them both. But they rarely visited her. She realised they had their own lives to worry about.  
  
"Yes, Mrs. Grazen, is their something I can get you?"  
  
A blonde-haired nurse walked into the room and closed the curtains and then stood next to Maureen's bed. At first, the young nurse was completely annoyed with "the old bat" but after a while they became friends, although they were still speaking on a formal basis.  
  
"Could you please get me some pudding and juice?" She coughed. Maureen's voice had grown older and raspy over the years but never lost its power.  
  
"Well, it's not the after-dinner snack yet but I'll see what I can do. Ok?"  
  
Before Maureen could answer, the woman walked out the door and down the hallway, her footsteps echoing until they died away. When Maureen felt that she could have her privacy she reached for a drawer next to her bed. She hated the damn drawer because it always stuck, but this time it opened with ease. She searched for the small heart-shaped necklace that she had hidden in the back and when she had a firm grasp on it she took it out and closed the drawer.  
  
But as she brought the necklace close to her face to inspect it, it slipped from her old hands and onto the floor with a small clink. The corners of her mouth turned downward and her brows furrowed.  
  
How was she going to get that necklace back? You're probably thinking that she should just sit up, bend over and then grab the damn necklace, right?  
  
Maureen couldn't do that. Over the past day or two she could feel herself loosing her strength. She knew she was dying although the doctors never said it to her directly. It was even a difficult chore to get up and go to the bathroom. So Maureen decided to just wait for the nurse to get back and then pick up the necklace for her.  
  
There were footsteps down the hall and they seemed to be coming closer. When they reached the door Maureen assumed that it was Marcie.  
  
"Nurse."  
  
The footsteps stopped. No answer.  
  
"Nurse?"  
  
"Yeeees?" A man's voice drawled out into the semi-darkness of her room  
  
Maureen felt the pit of her stomach churn and flop until she thought she was going to dry-heave. The voice of only one man could make her physically ill like that... Jack Ferriman. Although, gagging wouldn't be an option at this point because embarrassment was the last thing she wanted before she died.  
  
Maureen looked to the doorway of her dimly lit room and there was the one, the only, Jack Ferriman. He was leaning against the doorway and had his hands lazily shoved into his pockets. He stared at her for a moment then gave a wicked smile and sat down in the seat next to her bed. That's when Maureen got a good look at him and noticed he never even seemed to age a day. His face was the same one that haunted her dreams for years. Not to mention, he wore a pair of baggy blue jeans with a green button-up shirt and a blue jacket... similiar to the clothes he wore on the Antonia Graza almost 50 years ago.  
  
"So Epps, how are you?" His voice was pleasant, but that was just a cover- up. She had caused Jack some serious problems. She had defeated him, she had cost him a lot of souls, and any woman that is capable of that deserves a little visitation on their deathbed. But there was something else he came for...  
  
"What do you want? And my last name is not Epps anymore." Maureen was not pleased. She was standing on the threshold of panic but a small part of her was curious why he was here. And that part had won the battle playing out in her head.  
  
"I'm just here to visit. You don't get that much, do you? And that's right, I forgot, your name isn't Epps anymore. It's Grazen, right? And your children's names are Antonia and Jack. Isn't that lovely." He smiled at her mockingly.  
  
"Go to hell." Maureen spat with vehnom but then began to cough.  
  
Jack ignored her hacking and laughed. "Been there. It's quite nice actually. A little on the warm side, but nice. You should go sometime."  
  
Maureen wanted to just close her eyes and disappear. Then she remembered the necklace.  
  
She glanced down towards Jack's shoes where the necklace was sitting just a few inches away. Jack followed her eyes and then he himself saw the necklace.  
  
"And what's this?" He said as he gently picked up the necklace. Maureen gasped.  
  
He recognized this necklace. It had once belonged to Katie Harwood, another one of the tragedies aboard the Graza. "So, the girl gave it to you, hmmm? Those were her parents, you know." He said as he opened up the locket and looked at the small heart-shaped pictures inside.  
  
Maureen reached for a small red button on the side of her bed, but it was out of her reach. So she gave up on calling any nurses in to help her. She would have to deal with this all on her own.  
  
"Jack, give it-" Before Maureen could finish she was cut off.  
  
"Why don't you join me?" Maureen's old eyes looked at him with such absolute horror that Jack had to laugh. "Just kidding." He smirked at her.  
  
"I have a question for you, Maureen. I know you're dying, and so where are your children to comfort you on your deathbed?" And that was another ironic thing in Maureen's life at this point. Her own two children weren't there by her side, yet, the man who almost killed her, the man who killed her crew members, the man who caused so much pain and tragedy for others... was.  
  
Maureen just stared at him. "That's what I thought." Jack stated proudly. He set the necklace down on the table near by.  
  
"Do you really want to know why I'm here?" Jack said malignantly.  
  
Maureen was nervous but she never let him see that. "Stop messing with my head, Jack." Once again, she coughed.  
  
"I'm here for your soul, Maureen. You 'killed' me. You blew me up into a thousand itty bitty pieces. You are a criminal and a sinner. And sinners go to Hell. You see, before he died, Dodge shot me in the chest. And I was 'dead' then. So he was destined for Hell from that point. Just like you're now destined for Hell, my friend."  
  
Maureen began to shake uncontrollably as she looked at Jack pleadingly. She couldn't put her thoughts into rational words and Jack could see it in her face. But he noticed that not one tear fell from her eyes. He smiled at that and was pleased to know that her will power and mental strength never faded like her physical condition had.  
  
Jack took Maureen's old, brittle (right) hand and held it tightly in his strong masculine one. She tried to pull away even though she knew that she was already doomed. He smiled sadly at her (it was, once more, a cover-up) but she knew as well as he did that he was just trying to comfort her before she died, but when it came down to it, he didn't really care.  
  
Jack knew she was going to die.  
  
Maureen knew she was going to die.  
  
Maureen began to cough uncontrollably this time and she could practically feel the strength seeping out through her pores. Her breathing became labored and shallow but then it slowed down to almost a crawl.  
  
And suddenly she didn't care anymore. She didn't care if she was going to Hell or not.  
  
She didn't want to die alone. She didn't want to die in a cold hospital bed without even her nurse to bring her her damn pudding and juice.  
  
She clutched on to Jack's hand with such a power that an old woman such as herself should not posess. She turned to Jack and stared into his ocean blue eyes for a moment.  
  
They say that in your dying moments you feel at peace, you feel this wave of calm sweep over your body and then carry you away. But all Maureen felt was the scorching of her palm. It was a searing pain that traveled up her arm and by then she knew she was "marked", her soul was no longer her own.  
  
She sucked in one last breath and her eyes slowly closed, letting Jack Ferriman be the last thing she ever saw (ironic? I think so). Her grip loosened until her fingers hit the pillow. All the little machines and whatnot that she was connected to began to sound off and flicker crazily.  
  
Maureen Epps Grazen was dead.  
  
And Jack Ferriman had to get out of there quick.  
  
He grabbed the necklace that sat on the table and put it in her left hand, which dangled over the side of her bed.  
  
"Later, Maureen." He said as he now stood in the doorway. He walked quickly down the hallway just as Maureen's nurse was running into her room, pudding and juice in hand.  
  
"What the hell... Oh my God!" Marcie dropped the pudding and juice and ran over to Maureen. She was already gone.  
  
"Doctor! Doctor Marshall!" She called out for help as she checked Maureen's vitals and turned on the nearby light. Then she noticed the necklace. It dangled from the fingers of her left hand. Her right hand was palm down so the nurse never saw the scar of the anchor in the center of her hand.  
  
And so Jack Ferriman completed his revenge. He had her soul. He was as happy as a demon could possibly get. He won. He always wins.  
  
He had stood at the deathbed of the one woman who defeated him and almost cost him his job, yet he comforted her and held her hand through her dying moments. But, of course, he did have his reasons. So, for Jack, what it boils down to is his kindness is cruelty.  
  
A little too ironic, doncha think?  
  
*~*~*  
  
Author's Note: I put a lot of smaller ironic things in that story, most of which you probably didn't notice. Now, did that kick ass? Or did it suck bigtime? You tell me... 


End file.
